Sculpture, Profilo contino del Duce (Continuous profile of Mussolini), 1933 Renato Bertelli (Italian, 1900–74) Florence Later manufactured by Ditta Effeffe, Milan, with Mussolini’s approval, patent no. 1073 Bronzed terra-cotta 11 x 9" 84.6.4 This dynamic sculpture is an official portrait of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, who approved its design. It shows the distinctive profile of the Fascist leader rotated 360 degrees - it seems to be more a machine than a man’s head. The work, modeled in ceramic, was replicated in metal and offered for sale. Mussolini as "Il Duce" - the Leader - used his own image in propaganda and made it a symbol of his government and its policies. For this portrait, the sculptor Renato Bertelli followed Futurist precepts of time and motion, employing the avant-garde concepts of simultaneity to create a profile, usually a two-dimensional image, in three dimensions. Fascism took hold in Italy in the years following the First World War, as political factions - Socialists, Communists, and Nationalists - grappled for power. In 1919 Benito Mussolini, a young editor and the son of a blacksmith, founded a political group called Il Fascio di Combattimenti - or a fighting group. Their symbol was a sheaf of reeds bound together with an ax - the emblem of Ancient Roman officials. The Fascists became an official political power in 1921. They called for Italy to "reaffirm her right to complete historic and geographic unity and to fulfill her mission as the bulwark of Latin civilization." They swept into power with their famous March on Rome in 1922. A general strike had been called for across all of Italy; Mussolini declared that unless the government prevented the strike, the Fascists would. "Either the government will be given to us or we will seize it by marching on Rome," he cried. Mussolini became Italy’s prime minister. He carried out social reforms and institutional large projects, maintaining order by virtue of a police state. From 1925 he was the "Head of Government" - dictator. He supported Adolf Hitler and sided with the Axis powers during the Second World War, and at the close of war, while trying to escape, Mussolini was caught and executed by Italian partisan soldiers. Back to Political Propaganda Main Back to Collections Main